British soldiers are suspected of murdering a number of Iraqi civilians in the wake of the 2003 invasion. But military prosecutors have resisted filing any charges, saying there is no realistic prospect of winning convictions.

Perhaps it was to be expected after the mass exodus of American forces in late June, but August was a cruel month in terms of the Iraqi death toll caused by insurgent violence—the worst in 13 months. Unfortunately, the trend might continue as Iraqis navigate the aftermath of U.S. troop withdrawal and anticipate their national elections early next year.

He was one of three U.S. soldiers implicated in the execution-style shooting of four Iraqi prisoners near Baghdad in March 2007, but 40-year-old Army Master Sgt. John E. Hatley was also believed to have been the main instigator in the incident. On Thursday, Hatley was sentenced to life in prison for murder.

In this first installment in her series of stories from Iraq for Truthdig, veteran foreign correspondent Anna Badkhen reports about the civilian costs of war, life under occupation and the precarious state of a Baghdad burger joint.

After a seven week surge in violent street clashes and an estimated 1,000 civilian deaths in the Sadr City neighborhood of Baghdad alone, U.S. and Iraqi forces are now preparing an overwhelming military offensive they hope will completely annihilate active Shia resistance movements and pacify the area, making it safe for occupation.

Ever wonder what Ted Turner might be thinking about, say, Mideast politics, or how to squeak by on just “a couple billion” dollars? How about bunnies? If so, you’re in luck—this GQ interview with the ever-rowdy media mogul has it all, along with a rather startling spat with his publicist captured on the record.

The Iraqi government is taking a close look at all private security firms still involved in the ongoing conflict there following Sunday’s shootout in Baghdad, after which several contractors from Blackwater USA were accused of killing innocent bystanders while guarding U.S. officials.

More bad news for the more than 2 million Iraqis who have fled their occupied country: The Bush administration, after admitting fewer than 800 Iraqi refugees into the U.S. in the first three years of the occupation, has failed miserably to follow through on its promise to admit 7,000 more by the end of September.

In this powerful collection of blogs from recent days, Iraqis react to the violence sweeping their nation. Here’s Meemo, a 19-year-old from Baghdad who’s getting out: “I leave Baghdad in two days…. I’m not going to see death anymore; I’m not going to hear car explosions again; I will come back to life again.”

Still wondering whether the trial of Saddam Hussein might have been a miscarriage of justice? Take a look at the HRW report (pdf) and make up your mind. Hussein’s chief defense lawyer, Khalil al-Dulami, recently complained to the BBC that he has been prevented from filing appeal papers.

An Iraqi architect at JFK Airport was wearing a shirt that read “We Will Not Be Silent” in Arabic and English. Security officers said it was upsetting other passengers, and said he couldn’t board until he turned it inside-out or put on something else. He chose the latter. (Read his reaction after the jump) (h/t: Raw Story)This is pretty ridiculous: If security guards were worried that he was a terrorist, a new shirt wouldn’t have thwarted his plot. And if they didn’t suspect he was a terrorist, why can’t he wear a shirt of protest?

The specifics of this case are made more sickening by the fact that they did not occur in a vacuum. Several cases of U.S. forces killing unarmed Iraqi civilians are pending in military courts, and they have badly mangled America’s already bad image in the region.

As U.S. forces have given Iraqi security officers responsibility for policing Baghdad, violence has notably increased, undercutting America’s premise that Iraqis are capable of securing their own country.

The 21-year-old former Army private first class was recently discharged because of a “personality disorder.” Four other members of his former platoon are also implicated in the killing of the Iraqis and are being held at a U.S. base in Iraq.

A private report made by the U.S. Embassy in Iraq, obtained by the Washington Post, paints a portrait of increasing danger faced by its Iraqi employees who live outside the Green Zone: “harassment, threats and the employees’ constant fears that their neighbors will discover they work for the U.S. government.”

A military investigator reportedly has evidence that the Iraqi civilians killed in Haditha last November were the victims of bullet wounds, not a roadside bomb, as the Marines implicated in the crime had claimed.

The new Iraqi ambassador to America, fresh after meeting Bush in Washington for the first time, told CNN that U.S. Marines killed his cousin in cold blood in Haditha five months before the November massacre there. (h/t: The Dan Report)This is huge: The ambassador of a newly minted “friendly” country went on national TV to accuse the U.S. of murdering a relative. Diplomatically speaking, it’s a violent smack across Bush’s face.

The crash of a British helicopter in the southern Iraqi city of Basra led to a crackdown by British soldiers and five Iraqi deaths. A melee ensued—stone-throwing, Molotov cocktails…. A BBC correspondent called the worsening situation a “dramatic change in attitude” toward the British presence.

Truthdig salutes Ray McGovern, the 27-year CIA veteran who articulated the outrage of a nation by publicly and heroically challenging Donald Rumsfeld’s lies about Iraqi WMD.Click here for the full report.

The presidential spokesman won’t say at what point the president learned of a Pentagon report which concluded that Iraqi weapons trailers discovered after the invasion were not—as Bush later claimed—WMD factories.No wonder McClellan won’t answer. This could amount to proof positive that Bush outright lied about WMD.

The White House spokesman said news networks should apologize for reporting on the Washington Post’s story about the phony Iraqi weapons trailers. But when reporters quizzed him on what Bush knew and when he knew it, McClellan ducked the question.

Two separate claims of American soldiers murdering Iraqi civilians have arisen. One report involves the alleged killing of 15 people, including a 3-year-old girl; the second involves the alleged murder of 11, including a 75-year-old woman and a 6-month-old infant.

In a big story that is receiving scant media attention, the U.S. claims that Iraqi police forces are acting as “death squads” to wipe out Sunnis.
At the same time, the Iraq parliament is condemning the U.S. for the newly released pictures of prisoner abuse in Abu Ghraib.

At least two people died in the rampage. Also, the Iraqi city of Basra demands the withdrawal of Denmark’s military contingent from southern Iraq until an apology for the cartoons is proffered.
Will this madness ever end?

The News of the World (UK) publishes images and releases a video of a squadron of English soldiers savagely beating a group of rioting Iraqi teenagers in 2004. | story or watch videoUPDATE: British authorities have arrested a serving soldier in connection with the incident. | story

The American interrogator sat on the general’s chest and covered up his mouth—both of which were apparently approved techniques. The defense claimed that the actions did not directly cause the general’s death. | storyWe can’t help but suspect that much of the Arab world might come to a different conclusion.

The same Pentagon contractor that paid Iraqi newspapers to print pro-U.S. stories written by American soldiers masquerading as indepenent journalists has also been “compensating Sunni religious scholars in Iraq in return for assistance with its propaganda work,” according to the New York Times.

Why is it not bigger news that those infamous Iraqi female scientists once routinely referred to in the media as “Dr. Germ” and “Mrs. Anthrax” have been quietly released from imprisonment in Iraq without any charges being brought by their U.S. captors?